When a Cuban man is killed on a New
York street, the investigation leads to Havana and the
man running an alien smuggling ring known as Palinov
(George Macready). Pete Karczag (John Hodiak) is the
immigration detective assigned to the case in Havana. To
infiltrate the ring, he poses as a Hungarian refugee
desperate to gain passage to America. While negotiating
his trip he meets and falls for beautiful Marianne
Lorress (Hedy Lamarr), who is also hoping to make the
illegal journey. It’s a Latin dance with frequent lead
changes as Palinov and Pete struggle for the upper hand
and the attentions of Marianne. As tautly directed by
noir specialist Joseph H. Lewis (My Name Is Julia
Ross, Gun Crazy), the winner of this
high-stakes game is unknown until the climactic finale
on a fog-shrouded dock.

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred
per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate

Audio

Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
(English)

Subtitles

None

Features

Release
Information:
Studio: Warner Home Video

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen - 1.33:1

Edition Details:
• Theatrical Trailer (2:09)

DVD Release Date:
August 17th, 2010Keep Case

Chapters 8

Comments

A Lady
Without Passport received its first DVD release from
Warner Archive Collection in August. The single-layered
progressive transfer is solid, although there are some
speckles on the print. Hedy Lamarr looks gorgeous even
running for her life in the swamps of Florida.

The
English mono soundtrack is adequate, but there are no
subtitles per standard of Warner Archive discs. We get
an original theatrical trailer and the film is divided
into 8 chapters, every 10 minutes. A very fine film noir
from MGM studio directed by Joseph H. Lewis and a
recommended DVD release from Warner Archive Collection.